Railway car end construction



Apnl 10, 1945. i H. D. B REEN ET AL RAILWAY CAR END CONSTRUCTIONv Original Filed Feb. 12; 1940 INVENTORS." f A. m 4

Patented Apr. 10, 1945 2,373,378 r RAILWAY CAR END CONSTRUCTION j Henry D. Breen and ArthurF. @Connor,

Chicago,

Ill., assignors to Union Asbestos & Rubber Com pany, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application February 12, 1940, Serial No.

318,432. Divided and this application Decem her 11, 1941, Serial No. 422,472

2 Claims. (01.105410) ister with the configuration of the corrugations The invention relates to car body construction and has particular reference to pressedsteel car ends, and more particularly to pressed metal oar ends having horizontal corrugations pressed therein. It is a division of co-pending United States application Serial No. 318,432 filed Feb. 12, 1940.

An object is to provide means whereby the conventional horizontally corrugated metal (car ends may be strengthened without adding materially to the overall thickness of same.

Another object is to provide means for maintaining the centers of the adjacent corrugations in predetermined relationship with each other in order to prevent bulging out of the car ends.

A further object is to provide ready means for strengthening and rigidifying existing corrugated metal car ends.

Further objects of the invention will appear in the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, illustrating a, preferred embodiment of the invention, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary end elevation of a car with one form of the reinforcing means applied thereto.

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the reinforcing means of Fig. 1, taken along line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig, 1, showing a modified form of reinforcing means for the car end.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral ID indicates the roof of the car, l2 the end sill of the car, and M a car end of conventional corrugated construction. The car end l4 may be secured to the roof l and end sill l2 by means of rivets I6 and ill or as by Welding if preferred. The

car end l4 may comprise one or more metal sheets spliced together in the usual manner.

The car end l4 may be provided with vertical marginal flanges 20 extending around the corner of the car and afiixed to the conventional corner post or to the side wall of the car.

In the structure of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the reinforcing means for the rear end l4 may comprise one or more elongated metal plate members 22 extending vertically and afiixed to the car end adjacent its vertical center line. The member 22 may comprise a substantially plane metal plate with its plane perpendicular to the plane of the car end H. Member 22 may be provided along one of its longitudinal margins with a sinuous in the car end. The edge 24 may have edgewise engagement with the corrugated car end and may be afiixed thereto by means of welding. An elongated metal plate member 26 may be affixed to the opposite side of the car end It and may comprise a substantially plane metal plate having a scalloped longitudinal margin 28 adapted to fit into and register with the corrugations on said opposite side of the car end and may be affixed thereto by welding, the members 22 and26 extending preferably in a common plane.

One or more reinforcing members may be used on the outside of the car end and one or more members used on the inside of the same car end, depending upon the strength of the individual members used and the amount of strenghtening required for a. particular oar end. Where reinforcing members are used on both sides of the car end we prefer to place the opposed members in coplanar alignment in order that the member on one side of the car complement the one on the other side of the car, the combined members constituting the equivalent of a, single reinforcing member bisected by the corrugated metal car end and unified therewith by welding.

The upper and lower end portions of the members 22 and 26 may extend beyond the upper and lower corrugations, respectively, of the car end, wherelby to increase the strength of the reinforcing means, and these end portions may be affixed to plane portions of the car end adjacent said upper and lower corrugations, or they may be aifixed to a portion of the car roof or end sill structure if desired. I

In the modified form of reinforcing means shown in Fig. 4, a plurality of vertically aligned segments 30 may be aflixed to one side of the .car

end, the segments 30 comprising plane metallic plates extending transversely of the corrugations with their planes in perpendicular relationship with the plane of the car end. Segments 30 may comprise flat metal plates provided with an arcuate configuration adapted to fit into and register with the valleys of the corrugations and may be provided opposite said arcuate configuration with a straight margin adapted to extend in a. plane parallel with the plane of said car end and substantially coincident with the aligned apices of adfiacent corrugations. Aligned segments 30 may be afiixed to one side only of the [car end if deor scalloped edge 24 adapted to fit into and reg- 5o sired, and a plurality of these aligned segments may be affixed to one side only of the car end,

in the latter event there being a plurality of segments 30 in the valley of a given corrugation,

said plurality of segments being spaced from each other. Aligned segments 30 may be aifixed to one side of the car end and aligned coplanar segments 30 may be aflixed to the opposite side of the car end. Segments 32 and 34 may be affixed to the car end adjacent the upper and lower corrugations, respectively, and may be welded to said corrugations and the adjacent plane portions of the car end.

We claim:

1. In a railway car end wall, including a, metalli-e sheet having a plurality of contiguous parallel corrugations pressed therein; reinforcing means disposed transversely-of and intermediate the opposed ends of said corrugations adapted to maintain adjoining corrugations'in predetermined relationship topreventbulging of said wall when under load, comprising a pair of substantially plane elongated strips, each strip of said pair being on opposite sides of said wall and complementing the other strip to form a combined reinforcing means bisected along its longitudinal center by said wall, said combined reinforcing means extending in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said wall, each of said strips having a sinuous longitudinal edge following the contour of and fitting throughout its length against the adjacent face of the sheet and rigidly secured to the sheet.

2. In a railway car end wall of the type including a metallic sheet having a plurality of contiguous parallel corrugations pressed therein; reinforcing means adapted to be applied to said sheet after said corrugations are pressed therein, comprising a pair of substantially plane elongated metal strips, each of said strips being affixed to opposite sides of said sheet and complementing each other to form a combined reinforcing member having equal portions on opposed sides of said sheet and extending transversely of said corrugations in a plane perpendicular to the plane of said sheet but without interrupting the continuity of thesheet, said strips on both sides of said sheet being in coplanar alignment, each of said strips having a sinuous longitudinal margin adapted to substantially conform to the transverse contour of and being welded in edgewise engagement with the adjacent contiguous corrugations.

-HENRY D. BREEN.

ARTHUR F. OCONNOR. 

